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September 6, 2015

Morehead, KY (By Micheal Inzaghi) - Kim Davis can either let her deputy clerks issue the licenses or gay couples can travel to other offices, he says.

“She’s being held in contempt because she’s refusing to follow a district court decision in a suit to which she is a party, holding that same-sex couples have a right to obtain marriage licenses from her”, Vladek said.

With Davis still in jail for contempt over her refusal to issue marriage licenses, others in her office did begin issuing the documents today in Rowan County, after pledging they would do so under oath in a federal courtroom Thursday. “She may be the example that sparks a firestorm of resistance across this country”.

“What we end up having is the first example of the criminalization of a Christian for believing in the traditional definition of marriage“, Huckabee told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead” Friday.

“God is going to continue to bless Kim Davis“, Steele said before leading the group in prayer. “The County Clerk has presented her position through the federal court system, all of the way to the U.S. Supreme Court“. Who will be next?

And what of religious liberty? And it’s not just mine, it’s also Justice Roberts’ opinion. A hearing on the motion is set for Thursday.

“It is not a light issue for me”.

He said the governor could issue an executive order to solve the problem.

A lawyer for Davis – Mat Staver – responded on Friday by saying that the licenses issued without her consent are void. The process could involve a notary public who does not object to the law.

The Kentucky Equality Federation, which campaigns on gay rights, said Davis’ religious beliefs were “incompatible with the elected office she holds”, and called for her to be impeached. Minister Jordan Palmer the secretary-general of the federation said the situation is analogous to [Kentucky] Governor Steve Beshear refusing to aid a region of the Commonwealth during a disaster because they are Methodist, Catholic, or they voted for a different political party.

Palmer added "It is similar to a clerk refusing to issue driver's licenses to taxpayers of a certain gender because they don't believe they are religiously permitted to drive. Would we tolerate a governor or president who refused to repel an invasion or defend the lives they have sworn to safeguard?"

One question that remains is if these licenses will remain valid after Davis is out of jail.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has struggled for attention in the crowded 2016 contest, lashed out at Trump on Twitter. “Even really rich New Yorkers should oppose jailing Christians for their religious beliefs”.

Ryan Anderson, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think tank, said the state legislature should remove clerks’ names from the licenses as Davis has asked.

“In the majority of states … you could be married on Saturday, post your Facebook pictures on Sunday and be fired from your job or kicked out of your apartment on Monday”, he said.

Supporter David Baugus said he came out to keep his voice alive. “So you know, it’s a very tough situation”.

September 5, 2015

LOUISVILLE — A Rowan County, Ky., clerk has continued to defy a Supreme Court ruling that she issue marriage licenses to gay couples. On Tuesday, Kim Davis said she was acting under "God's authority" when she refused to issue the licenses.

Lawyers for the couples have asked a federal judge to hold her in contempt of court.

The Supreme Court refused Monday to allow Davis' office to deny the licenses because of her religious beliefs. However, on Tuesday, she turned away at least four couples.

Answer: She is an elected official and can only be removed from office for impeachment.

Q: How would she be impeached?

A: The Kentucky House of Representatives would have to charge her with an impeachable offense and the Senate would then try her.

Q: Is that likely?

A: The Kentucky Equality Federation, a gay rights group, has called for Gov. Steve Beshear to call a special session of the General Assembly to pursue impeachment. But Beshear, citing costs, has already declined to convene a special session to consider emergency legislation that would accommodate Davis and other clerks by having state government issue marriage licenses. Also, Bluegrass Polls show most Kentucky voters oppose gay marriage and support accommodating Davis. Beshear declined to comment Tuesday.

Still Kentucky Equality Federation's secretary-general, Minister Jordan Palmer says Davis violated the oath of office and also called for her resignation "if she cannot complete her job because of religious beliefs". Minister Palmer later called the situation similar to a clerk refusing to issue driver's licenses to taxpayers of a certain gender because they don't believe they are religiously permitted to drive.

Q: Can Davis be charged with a crime?

A: After being denied a license four times, a gay couple has asked the Rowan County attorney to charge her with official misconduct, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail. But citing a conflict of interest — he is defending the county in suits naming Davis — he referred the request to the attorney general’s office, which is deciding whether to appoint a special prosecutor.

Q: What happens next?

A: The two gay and straight couples who sued Davis have asked U.S. District Judge David Bunning to find her in contempt of court. A hearing is set for Thursday morning in Ashland, Ky.

Q: What punishment could she get for that?

A: Bunning could jail or fine her, but the plaintiffs are seeking only monetary penalties, apparently to avoid engendering sympathy for her in jail. Bunning could order her to pay the fines out of her own pocket, rather than with taxpaper money.

Q: Does Davis have any options left?

A: She can still pursue her appeal in the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, but her bids to delay compliance ran out Monday night when the Supreme Court denied her a stay.

Q: Could local officials try to remove her?

A: Kentucky law allows a commonwealth’s attorney to indict county judges-executives, justices of the peace, sheriffs, coroners, surveyors, jailers, county attorneys and constables for malfeasance in office or willful neglect in the discharge of official duties, for which they can be fined up to $1,000 and removed from office upon conviction. But for some reason lost to history, the statute doesn’t include county clerks.

Q: What are Davis’ grounds for refusing to comply with court orders?

A: She says that to issue a marriage license to same-sex couples, on which her name would be signed, conflicts with God’s definition of marriage and would violate her conscience. She says her religious liberty should be protected under the Kentucky and U.S. Constitutions and the Kentucky Religious Freedom Act.

September 4, 2015

Morehead, Ky (By: Alex Crown) - Rowan County clerk Kim Davis has been summoned to the hearing at 11 a.m. Thursday before U.S. District Judge David Bunning. “Just because five Supreme Court judges make a ruling, it’s not a law”, she said.

“Last night Kim Davis was incarcerated in a jail cell while the rest of us slept in our comfortable beds”. She attends Solid Rock Apostolic Church in the county seat of Morehead.

A fourth gay couple planned to obtain a licence in the afternoon. He said Davis’ efforts are misguided.

Davis said she’s a different person since becoming a Christian 4½ years ago. “The county clerk has presented her position through the federal court system, all of the way to the U.S. Supreme Court".

“Kim Davis is being treated as a criminal because she can not violate her conscience”.

The couple had previously been denied one five times. Miller said she and Roberts will get a license, “show that piece of paper off for a minute or two”, then go home and try to resume a quiet life together, without court appearances and reporters calling at all hours.

There’s no sign Davis is getting out of jail soon. Their attorneys, along with Rowan County Attorney Cecil Watkins, said the licenses are valid. Not all the Republican White House hopefuls see it Huckabee’s way.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Thursday authorities should have found a compromise to keep Davis out of jail.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear said he will allow any legal consequences which are prescribed to clerks who choose not to issue the marriage licenses. Davis’ name does not appear on the licenses.

A second gay couple has arrived at a Kentucky clerk’s office to apply for a marriage license.

The sixth deputy clerk, Davis’ son Nathan, would not agree to issue licences, but he was not jailed. The Longs did not respond, and a worker told the man to leave.

The Kentucky Equality Federation's secretary-general, Minister Jordan Palmer, which campaigns on gay rights, said Davis’ religious beliefs were “incompatible with the elected office she holds”, and called for her to be impeached during a telephone interview.

In a prepared statement Palmer stated:

"The fact is, Davis is not in prison because of her beliefs. She is being held in contempt of court because she refuses to resolve the job taxpayers elected her to perform and has broken her oath of office. She could easily resign and end the entire situation, but I suspect the national spotlight is truly the motivation. The office of an elected official is a public trust, not a personal platform for refusing service to the "wrong" sort of people; this reeks of the oppression of far-off lands where officials can make discriminatory rules and enforce summary judgement against certain classes, genders, orientations, races, and castes.

We are all equal before the law, and we encourage Davis to do the right thing, embrace the standard of public service (as she swore an oath to do), and comply with Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Wingate's ruling in Kentucky Equality Federation v. Commonwealth of Kentucky and the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court."

As Yates and Smith left the building, supporters chanted “Love has won!”

The “bulk of them” would likely be from Rowan County, an area of more than 23,300 people, said Palmer.

“She has no intention to resign”, he said. He said it would be up to same-sex couples to decide whether to test the validity of the licenses.

At 8:30 this morning, James Yates stepped out of the Rowan County Courthouse and rushed across the steps to hug his mom.

But American Civil Liberties Union attorneys contended Davis has no legal basis to avoid performing her duties as a government clerk.

Given the culture war brouhaha surrounding Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who has refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, it’s no wonder there are people itching to write her checks. For some, the Apostolic Christian is something of a martyr, sacrificing her personal freedoms to take a stand against same-sex marriage. After a federal judge Thursday held Davis in contempt of court and sent her to jail, that perception has only grown.

But Davis supporters are going to have a hard time raising money online.

That’s because the popular crowdfunding site GoFundMe has a specific policy against supporting those facing charges of discrimination.

Here’s the policy, added to the website in April of this year:

GoFundMe will not allow campaigns that benefit individuals or groups facing formal charges or claims of serious violations of the law.

The amendedment can be found under the ‘What’s Not Allowed’ section of our terms, as well as below:

That’s you, Kim! And it appears that GoFundMe has stuck to its guns: As of writing, there are no fundraising campaigns for Davis on the site.

Davis’ huge and money-savvy network of supporters is part of the reason U.S. District Judge David Bunning decided to send the county clerk to jail. After Davis testified Thursday that the Liberty Counsel, a Christian public interest law firm, had already begun collecting money on her behalf, “Bunning rejected the possibility” of fining her instead, reports the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Of course, there’s still big money in the high-profile media circus, not least for the 2016 presidential nominees who have come out as Davis supporters. Republicans Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee have gone on record as strong Davis advocates. You can bet her plight will become the focus of their own fundraising campaigns.

Meanwhile, those still to donate online can head to CrowdRise, where organizers are raising money for a Kim Davis Miracle Makeover. All proceeds will go to the LGBT stylists who will help the county clerk with her transformation—and should she refuse their help, to the Kentucky Equality Federation.

We are all equal before the law, and we encourage Davis to do the right thing, embrace the standard of public service (as she swore an oath to do), and comply with Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas D. Wingate's ruling in Kentucky Equality Federation v. Commonwealth of Kentucky and the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court.
She is being held in contempt of court because she refuses to resolve the job taxpayers elected her to perform and has broken her oath of office. She could easily resign and end the entire situation, but I suspect the national spotlight is truly the motivation.

The office of an elected official is a public trust, not a personal platform for refusing service to the "wrong" sort of people; this reeks of the oppression of far-off lands where officials can make discriminatory rules and enforce summary judgement against certain classes, genders, orientations, races, and castes.

Calls to Joshua Koch the president of the Kentucky Public Advocate Service, a Kentucky Equality Federation member was not immediately returned.

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